Falling In Love Again
by WhatsThatWordAgain
Summary: "Do you wish I was still him?" "Do you know what it was like for me?" she asked. "It was like falling in love with one guy, but then, he left, and another man comes into the picture. And I can't help but fall for him. And the farther I fall, the more I realize that he is the same man, always."


**I know that this kind of thing has been done before, but I'm hoping my version is still unique. **

**This story can be read as a sequel to Not Happy, but is fine to read alone. **

**Enjoy!**

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"Do you want me to pick on the fact that you are too attractive to be ever taken seriously or just talk about your abnormally small ears?"

"Oi! They're not that small!" he shouted, "And I thought you loved my ears," he continued, unconsciously rubbing his ear lobes.

"They're tiny compared to the ones you had before you regenerated," Rose replied smirking.

{[()]}

Rose didn't ever think she would cease to be baffled by the situations she and the Doctor wound themselves up in.

Earlier that day, he had taken her the the planet Rectotorso in the Rood Sector of the galaxy Allsyon. It was supposed to be a break, a vacation of sorts, from the constant running and almost dying they usually did.

Rectotorso was supposed to have some of the best food and entertainment in that corner of the galaxy, as well as beautiful scenery outside the capital city. The Doctor had promised Rose a nice nature hike, a romantic dinner, and a play written by the galaxy renowned writer Serapes Hake.

Rose didn't know why she believed all of that would actually happen, seeing as he wasn't the best driver in the universe.

Apparently, the TARDIS had landed thirty years earlier, back when Rectotorso was still under control of a corrupt queen.

Of course, the Doctor's unstoppable gob had caused him to insult one of the guards, which resulted in the two of them being taken to the bloody queen herself. While the Doctor tried to explain his mistake, the queen made eyes at him and let his innumerable words go right past her ears. No one ever took him seriously. Who would when he was all hair and smiles.

The queen's attraction to the Doctor had then caused Rose be very angry, because that really great hair and bright smile was _hers_. That little fiasco ended with Rose and the Doctor being thrown into cell together, but not without the queen's promise to come back and "visit" with him.

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"You did love those ears, didn't you," the Doctor said, placing his wrists on the sides of his head and wiggling his fingers. "Do you have some kind of ear fetish you want to talk about?"

Rose snorted. "I really did love them," her tone turned seductive, "and that leather coat. Those icy blue eyes under the short hair." She bit her lip, "Who wouldn't love that. But now, now your just a skinny boy with wild hair."

The Doctor knew she was teasing; he could hear it in her voice and see it in her eyes, but that didn't stop the smile disappearing from his face and his hands dropping to his sides.

"What's wrong?" Rose asked, concerned.

"Nothing," he said, his eyes flitting to the ground for a moment before coming back to meet hers. "It's just... Do you miss the old me?"

"Yeah, course I do."

He sighed, then leaned against the cell wall before sliming down it to sit. He stared at the dusty floor for a moment before asking her, "Do you wish I was still him?"

Rose looked carefully at her Doctor. This conversation had never come up before. She didn't think that he would still be thinking about what his regeneration had done to her, but the look of regret and sadness on his face was unmistakeable.

"Do you know what it was like for me?" she asked as she watched him study the ground. "It was like falling in love with one guy, but then, he left, and another man comes into the picture. And this one looks different, and dresses different, and acts different, and walks different. He even smells a little different," the Doctor gave a small smirk. "But all along, there's something familiar about him. The way he loves bananas. His questionable driving skills. The way he can turn even the most fearsome monsters away just by saying his name. And I can't help but fall for him. And the farther I fall, the more I realize that he is the same man, always."

The Doctor looked up at her, a small twinge of the sadness gone from his brown eyes.

"And anyway," she said smiling, "I'm lucky you regenerated. Not many girls get to fall in love with the same man twice."

He smiled a little. She really was amazing, his Rose. She always knew what to say, even when _he_ ran out of words. How he ever lived without her, he didn't know. There was a gaping whole in his life before he had met her. And now, it was filled with her laughter echoing through the TARDIS, and her warm fingers laced through his cold ones. Why she stayed with an old, broken man, he didn't have a clue, but he was sure grateful that she did.

"I thought you were going to leave me," the Doctor whispered, "After I regenerated, I mean."

"I wouldn't have done that," she paused "I thought you were going to leave me."

His eyes turned dark, they were brushing against another sensitive topic. He looked at her for a while, then hunched over and spoke.

"I've left people. People have left me. And I still can't decide which is worse."

Rose watched his heavy hearts dangle from a chain hung around his neck. The pure anguish emanating from him was affecting her, and tears started to spill from her eyes.

She cleared her throat, "I'll make you a deal," the Doctor glanced up at her, "you promise to never leave me, and I won't ever leave you. I'll stay right by your side, even if we are stuck in this cell for all eternity. I'll be here, forever."

"But you can't live as long as me. One day you'll die, isn't that the same as leaving?"

She shook her head. He liked impossible, but he could never could quite accept it. "I'm Rose Tyler," she shouted proudly, "the Bad Wolf, the Valiant Child, Defender of the Earth, the Doctor's companion!" she stood up and looked down at the man curled up in front of her "I will find a way."

Rose held out her hand and yanked the Doctor off the ground and into her embrace. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and buried his face in her neck. His only coherent thought in that big, Time Lord brain of his was _I love you. _

A few moments later, Rose pulled herself out of their hug and returned to the situation at hand.

"So, Doctor," she said, placing her hands on her hips and glancing around the room, "fancy finding us a way out of her before the hormonal queen comes back to take you to bed?"

The Doctor smiled widely at her. He studied the cell for a moment, taking in every detail of his surroundings.

Her turned back to her and spoke, "I can get us out of here fairly easily using my sonic screwdriver, a wedge of cheese, a golden horseshoe, and a pair of ladies underwear. I should be able to find the first three things in my pockets, but seeing as I don't typically stuff a ladies undergarments in there, you'll have to supply those."

Rose grinned wickedly and started unbuttoning her pants. This was going to be an interesting escape.

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Sometime later, back on the TARDIS...

"Um, Doctor. Why exactly did you need my underpants?"

He grinned wolfishly. "I didn't need them. I just didn't want to waste time trying to get them off when we got back to the TARDIS."

She rolled her eyes, but she was soon pressed against the TARDIS console having all her annoyance kissed right out of her.

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**Please review and thanks for reading!**


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